i would not recommend a laptop for a music server. laptops are not meant to be kept on all the time. they get pretty hot and they don't dissipate heat very well. try using your laptop on your legs for a couple of hours straight and see if it gets very warm. i use a mac mini, quiet, cool running, the best Operating system, and itunes is a nice interface. i use this as my server to a whole house music system. i use airport express devices using wired or wireless connections. i have jitter reduction devices after the airport express devices. huge difference. from the jitter devices, i go into external dacs, then into my preamps. i have $2000 and $3500 external dacs and they make the sound very musical, and easily compares to my multi thousand $$$ cd player.